EDITOR,—Neil Simpson and colleagues report that the rate of non-immunisation among children in their area is 0.33% and describe the reasons why some parents refused immunisation.1 We wish to describe the situation in New Zealand.

Until recently the childhood immunisation rate in New Zealand was thought to be low relative to that in many other developed countries (New Zealand does not have a national immunisation register to give accurate overall figures). A small study in 1992 showed that less …